Last weekend, my mum, stepdad, Sean and I, decided we would walk to the summit of Skiddaw, as we were visiting Keswick. This idea came about, as its about time I started training for Kilimanjaro next year, so we thought we'd start off with Skiddaw. It was a rather fun and rewarding way to spend our sunday.What a stunning place. The views from Keswick are unreal, it really makes you realise how much we take for granted what is on our doorstep. We managed to walk up and down in just over 3 hours which we thought was pretty good, we had taken a picnic with us, but the temperatures were so cold and the wind so strong, that it wasn't possible to stop for it. When we started at the bottom it was 4 degrees, clearish skies and some beautiful views. At the summit it hit low's of -10 degrees, and you couldn't see six foot in front of you, which was a shame because im sure the views would have been stunning.This has got me really excited for Kilimanjaro now, and I am already planning my next trek. As much as I found this relatively easy, it has made given me an idea of how challenging Killimanjaro is going to be. Im really not sure how I will adapt to the altitude change.Enjoy the photos of the lovely views :)Roo xx

Greetings from PrettyLittleGymAddict.co.uk, I hope this letter finds you well, and I hope you and Mrs Claus are enjoying some time together before the mad rush begins.

Christmas is one of my favourite times of year, as it seems the only day of the year we are able to get all of our family members under one roof. I suppose it makes it extra special now we have grown up and people have moved away, this special day brings us back together. And what better way to share out time than with gifts, laughter and lots of scummy food.

My Christmas celebrations will start on Christmas Eve, its a set tradition that our family of friends meet for drinks before the big day. As we get older, even this is becoming difficult to arrange. Don't worry though, I'll be home before 11:45pm so I'm snoozing when you arrive. The last thing I would ever want is to be hungover on Christmas Day, that definitely deserve coal in your stocking. And I wouldn't want to ruin my Christmas Dinner, I have dieted all year just to be able to squeeze in that extra sprout, Christmas Dinner is by far my favourite meal EVER.

I have been pretty good this year, I have raised £515 for Children with Cancer UK by completing the GNR2015, and I am now currently in the middle of raising money for Vision Aid Overseas before I climb Kilimanjaro next June. As I feel I have been good this year, I thought I would share with you my Christmas wishlist, just in case there is a little room left in your sleigh.

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From the early days of starting blogging, I spent more time looking at other peoples blogs than I did posting on my own. I used this time to find my own platform. While viewing other blogs, I noticed the Olympus Pen was a very popular camera, and the quality of photos it produced was unreal. So this year I'm asking for one for Christmas, I have a lot of trips and events coming up where I want to capture some amazing shots, after trying one out a couple of months ago, I really feel this will help me create some great content.

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I have always loved Sweaty Betty, some of my favourite gym clothes came from there. While hunting for a new Ski Jacket, I came across these gorgeous Ski Trail Thermals. I know its important to be warm on piste, but it's also important to look good. These would also be great to use when I go Trekking up Kilimanjaro.

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I am a Daisy girl, it's my everyday perfume. And it's one I fell in love with when it came out a few years ago. This year, Decadence has stole my heart, this would be the perfect scent for a night out.

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I saw Victoria 'InTheFrow' snapchat about this face pallete a few months ago, after running out of my Naked face palette recently, I would love to try this one out. Find it at Bare Minerals.

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This bra includes all my favourite things, powder blue, sparkles and a good push-up. I've wanted a new Victoria Secret bra for ages, and this one has definitely caught my eye.

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A girl can never have too many pairs of Nikes. I love the Nike Air Max 90's in all white.

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This product is becoming more and more popular with bloggers recently, so I feel its only fair I get chance to try it out.

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Every girl needs a Ted Baker purse.unfortunately my current TB purse is just a little too big for a night out clutch. This Perlow purse comes in the most stunning pink colour.

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I know this list may seem a little longer, but I just wanted to give you a rough idea of what I would love to find under the tree this year.

Its very true, that only you know your own body. And it's very hard to accept that at some times in life you can be defeated. For the last two months I have tried to convince myself that I am not injured, and I have tried to put the pain to the back of my mind. I never knew till this point how mentally and physically draining this can actually be.

I knew before I ran the Great North Run that something wasn't quite right, so a few weeks before, I travelled to Bradford to see a Physiotherapist. I was told I had a Pelvic slip, which the physio managed to correct in the session. I was also given some exercises and stretches to help strengthen the muscles surrounding my hips and knees. I left feeling relieved that it was nothing too serious and that the problem was solved. However, now, I'm not sure the problem was completely fixed.

Days before I ran the GNR one of my trainers commented on the 'popping' of my hip, this was happening everytime I took a step. She told me it wasn't normal, and I should get it checked before I ran the race. For some stupid reason I thought I knew better, and decided with a couple of extra stretches before workouts, the problem would heal itself. And I decided I would still participate in the race.

Race day arrived, I felt nervous & excited, and also I felt prepared. I had trained for this for 10 months, I was adamant that I would complete the race in my desired time. At 8 miles, I felt a pull in my calves and quads, the pain was awful. It felt like someone had sliced my legs with a scalpel. I was very fortunate that I was coming up to a water station, as cold water seemed to numb the pain, I drowned my legs in two bottles worth of freezing water and carried on. There was a moment where I had thought to myself, that's it, and I was quite prepared to stop the race. Luckily, something pushed me to carry on, not sure if it was the thought of the charity I would let down if I didn't finish, the thought of letting my family and supporters down, or the thought of letting myself down after how hard I had worked in training. I pushed myself to the end and completed. Thank god.

For the last two months, I have struggled, I haven't been able to lift as much weight with my legs in resistance training, I haven't been able to run further than 5 miles since I ran the half marathon, and my endurance in circuit training has been poor. I have constant aches in my hips and knees, and pulling in my calves and quads. I have slacked on my dieting because I have felt very negative towards training. I have spent hours stretching and foam rolling and I have taken pain killers and used pain relief creams. And it's only today that i've sat back and realised that something really isn't right, and I haven't done anything to help myself. I've let myself lose, my normal, very positive attitude, and i've sunk into a very low mood. The reason i've become so down is because I had got to a peak in my fitness, and i've slowly watched myself, let myself go. And now I know i'm going to have to work bloody hard to get back to that level of fitness.

Admitting you've got an injury, is hard. It shatters your self confidence. But the longer you hold back on accepting, the longer its going to take for you to get back to the level of fitness you were at.

Over the last few days I have made sure my diet is back on track, i've started thinking with a much more positive attitude and tomorrow I'm going to refer myself for Physio and make sure I get an answer for all the aches and pains i'm getting.

I used the 14 day teatox after returning from holiday, carrying a few extra pounds than before we went away. As I am already a huge fan of tea, I loved the taste of the morning cleanse, it has a very subtle flavour and very easy to drink. The evening cleanse instant tea, was rather strange, it was powered tea, which i'd never tried before. I wasn't too sure, as the powdered doesn't dissolve, whether you just drink the tea or the powder aswell. I did try both methods, and both seemed to give the same results. Regular bowel movements. eek.

Both cleanses did help assist me lose those extra pounds id gained on holiday.

Since using the 14 day teatox, I have continued to use the other three teas. All three have lovely fruity subtle flavours, and are very enjoyable to drink throughout the day. The Acai is definitely my favourite. I do find I feel alot healthier when i'm drinking it. Ive tried a few different teatox's and this has definitely been my favourite so far.

It would be very rude of me not to write a post about what I have experienced tonight, because this evenings event has combined two of my favourite things. Coffee & Christmas.

Tonight, after receiving a CoffeeClub invite, I headed to my local Costa branch to try out some of the new festive drinks they have on offer. I regularly visit this branch, so the store manager was more than happy to let me try a few of the different options. I took my sister along, because she's as big a coffee fan as I am.

So, some of the all time Christmas favourites are back on the menu, including the Gingerbread Latte (nothing cuter than seeing the mini gingerbread man sinking into squirty cream), and the Sticky Toffee Latte (one of my all time favourite Costa drinks). And, some brand new options, Tiramisu Latte, Salted Caramel Cappuccino, Chocolate Fudge Brownie Hot Chocolate, & Mulled Wine, to name a few. There's also a huge range of new cakes & sandwiches. I am definitely on a mission to try them all.

Tonight we tried:

Tiramisu Latte

Salted Caramel Cappuccino

Chocolate Fudge Brownie Hot Chocolate

Pigs in Blankets Panini

Turkey & all the trimmings sandwich

Salted Caramel Chocolate Brownie

Cookie Tower Brownie

So, yeah, we kinda tried quite a few things. Oopps.

I loved the festive decorations on the drinks, we had chocolate sprinkle snowflakes, glittery snow shimmer and chocolate cream. And the sandwiches tasted like little snippets of Christmas dinner, they really got me in the festive spirit.

I have to say my favourite drink out of them all was the Tiramisu Latte, I found the coffee to be strong and slightly bitter, with a hint of sweet from the syrup. I can imagine it being a bit too strong for someone who isn't really a coffee lover. But for me it was pretty much perfect. The hot chocolate & cappuccino were also really good and unique, and are potentials for my future visits.

You guys really need to head down and try the festive favourites, plus the take out cups are Christmassy too, I loved my Robin take away cup! They are also available in ceramic travel mugs, I'm personally going to ask Santa for one.

'Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.' Benjamin Franklin

So 12 months ago I started working for Boots as a trainee optical consultant, when I first applied for the job, I never actually knew what the job would entail. And very little did I know that this job had the potential to become my life long career.

My trainee optical consultant job role includes a year long apprenticeship, that I have 3 months left of. This apprenticeship will teach me everything I need to know about pre-screening patients, dispensing glasses, adjustments and problem solving. When I applied for the job, I loved that I could learn all the things I needed to learn and gain the qualifications to be an optical consultant, while being paid full salary. I choose this job role as it had a health based background, which is something I'm really interested in, it also includes maths and some science, which were my strongest subjects through schools and college.

It may comes as a shock to most, but working in optics can be very rewarding, I have had numerous customers who have been overwhelmed with the results from their eye tests, and have loved having the ability to see with their new glasses. We've had customers who have had further problems, who have been overwhelmed by our quick action taking. And it's rewarding to work within a team who work their backsides off to hit plans and targets.

It's lovely to be able to hold conversations with people from so many different backgrounds, people with so many stories to tell, who just want somebody to listen to them. To do well in this job role I feel you need a very outgoing and patient personality, the patient part I'm still working on, but I'm getting there.

Within the last year I have made a handful of really good friends, when you work in a team with targets and measures, you become quite close to your fellow colleagues, Because you all need to work together to get things done and to reach target. I also feel like I've changed as a person over the last year, I feel like I am a lot more patient than I was at the beginning, there's still a little room for improvement. However,I also feel like I give it my all, I will do what is asked of me, and I always like to go that extra mile. You will never progress up the ladder if you just plod along with everyone else.

I absolutely love my job, as much as I knew very little about it at the start, I'm now so glad I took that chance and filled in the application form.

Here's to hopefully many more years of progressing up the ladder and increasing my salary ;)